Entropy
by MichyGeary
Summary: Ric/Alexis. Sequel to Altar Banter. That was the wedding; this is the honeymoon. Story dedicated to Val... love you! Set in the heart of their glory days and their bantering ways.


**Entropy**

"Look, I'm sorry I said anything," Ric muttered as the elevator doors mercifully opened. He and his new wife stepped out into the hallway, scanning the brass numbers in the center above each door along the way.

"I just don't see the need for a hotel room, that's all," she said stubbornly for the fiftieth time.

"I know, I know. You're very opposed to this whole charade," Ric sighed, just praying for this argument to be over. Even conceding to Alexis had to be better than this endless quarrel. "That's why I left the hotel arrangements in your more than capable hands, sweetie."

Alexis shot him a quick glare before her eyes resumed scanning the doors for room 747-B. "Don't call me sweetie."

"Honey."

"Don't call me honey."

"Darling."

"Ric."

"Sorry."

Ric sighed his relief as they finally arrived at their room. He snatched the key impatiently from Alexis's hands and let them in eagerly… but his jaw nearly hit the floor when he stepped inside the room.

"What the hell?"

"What?" Alexis asked innocently as she strolled in after him. She went over to the bed that had her things, which the concierge had kindly already brought up for them. She began shuffling casually through her suitcase.

"Alexis, we can't sleep in separate beds," he said incredulously.

"Why not?"

"We're supposed to be married here. How bad does it look if we don't even sleep in the same bed?"

"Ric, need I remind you that this marriage is merely a legal maneuver?" she said curtly without meeting his gaze. "There is no way in hell I'm sleeping with you."

"I knew I shouldn't have left the room responsibilities with you," he regretted, suddenly changing his tune from earlier, as he shook his head shamefully at their unfortunate sleeping arrangements. "A room with two beds is a lot more expensive than a room with just one."

"Well, we needed to spend the extra money, because we certainly won't be sharing a bed."

Alexis finally found her pajamas – which she had to go out and buy specifically for this evening – grabbed them from her suitcase and headed off towards the bathroom. Ric took her arm on her way to stop her. She stopped quite reluctantly. He turned her arm over to look closely at her pajamas and raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"You're not wearing _that_, are you?"

Alexis's jaw dropped slightly, letting out a soft scoff. "Yes," she said firmly. "Why?"

Ric pulled her a little closer, running his hand sensuously up her bare arm. "Well, I was thinking that maybe you could wear something a little... sexier," he whispered, teasing her by bringing his lips as close to hers as he could without actually touching her.

Alexis swallowed hard, her eyelids dropping like heavy curtains over her eyes. "I may have something like that," she gasped.

"Yeah?" Ric breathed against her ear. He brushed his nose along the side of her face, lightly and briefly touching his lips to the corner of her mouth. "What might that be?"

Alexis raised her one free palm to his shoulder, clutching it sharply. "Nothing you'll ever see," she said just before giving him a rough shove. She turned on her heel and stalked off towards the bathroom, closing it tightly behind her without so much as a glance back.

Ric practically choked on his own breath. He fell backwards onto his own bed, his sigh heavy with utter disbelief. He hadn't realized that his own breathing had kicked it up a notch and was now engaging in a severe race with his heart. Not only had he fallen sharply into expectation, but the sudden shock of her rejection left him downright speechless! Did his own wife just dismiss him? Well, he certainly wasn't going to take this sitting down... er, lying down. He took a deep breath, sat up slowly, and stared at the bathroom door. Yep, he knew just what he had to do.

Alexis leaned against the wall in the bathroom, letting out short puffs of breath that she had expertly held in until she was out of Ric's sight. How could she let him get that close to her? This was wrong. This was all wrong. She had to think fast. Ok, this was no big deal. All she had to do was change into her pajamas, quietly tiptoe into bed, and never think about Ric ever again. All right, so the last part wasn't very realistic, but it was certainly something to aim for.

Alexis looked at the pajamas in her hands. She felt ridiculous just looking at them. She felt like she was a sixteen year old at a slumber party. They were pale purple silk pajamas, long pants and a spaghetti-strapped tank top. It was the space between summer and autumn, chilly enough that flannel wear wasn't appropriate but it was still humid enough that there was a desire for exposed skin. She supposed they would be comfortable enough, but she was sure she would look absolutely foolish.

A few short minutes later, Alexis was donned in her pajamas and ready for bed. She looked at herself quickly in the mirror to make sure that she didn't look too attractive. With Ric's sexual appetite the way it was, she would be lucky to make it out of this honeymoon alive. Pleased with her appearance, she turned for the door. However, she suddenly got incredibly nervous. There was no way she could go back out there and face Ric. How could she? She watched the door nervously for several minutes, just trying to avoid going out there. In her head, she ran through all her possible options. But after a while, a solution presented itself to her; she saw the light that bordered the door click off.

"Phew, he went to bed!" she whispered to herself. Now all she had to do was creep out and slip into bed without attracting his attention.

She opened the door slowly, sure to guarantee that she would not make a sound. She instantly regretted getting one of the only rooms in the entire hotel that did not have bay windows because what little light she was granted from the much-too-small square windows was simply not enough to find her way safely to bed. She fumbled her way over with what little she remembered about the layout of the room. Was that chair to the left of the bed or to the right? She dearly wanted to turn on the light, but she knew better than that. She simply had to tough it out until she made it those few crucial feet. Then she could finally rest.

After stumbling around in the dark for a terrifying thirty seconds, Alexis finally found her suitcase. Breathing a sigh of relief, she tossed her suitcase – silently, of course – onto the ground and crawled into bed.

But she wasn't alone.

As soon as she made it to the head of the bed, she felt his hands on her shoulders, pinning her down. She struggled weakly to break free, but he immediately imprisoned her with one of his devastatingly irresistible kisses. She felt her whole body turn limp as his hand wandered without inhibitions beneath her pajama top. Alexis frantically groped around in the dark for the lamp that she knew was by this bed somewhere. She had to put a stop to this before she lost all of her self control. Where the hell was that damn lamp? She was running out of time. Ric was slyly inching her shirt up. She knew she should have worn a bra to bed.

She finally found the lamp and eagerly turned it on.

"Ric, what the –"

Alexis froze immediately; she hadn't thought of it until this moment, but now that the light was on, she could see him – all of him. He was practically naked except for...

Oh, god, he wasn't wearing enough clothes!

Ric looked down at her, grinning wickedly. He put a hand to her warm face and felt her breath charging in and out rapidly. "Nervous?"

"What the hell are you doing?" she shouted, finally locating her voice. She tried to think of something positive to focus on to cool her anger and her flustered cheeks.

At least his hand had moved.

"I'm trying to make love to my new wife."

"Not even in your sickest fantasies!"

"Alexis, do you want to protect Kristina?" Ric demanded out of the blue.

"Of course I do," Alexis snapped. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be in this mess with you!"

"Then this marriage has to be real. We have to consummate it."

Alexis frowned as she considered what he was saying. She couldn't deny to herself that she wanted him. He was arrogant, antagonistic, and God that made him so irresistible. But she certainly didn't have to let him know that. She still had to have some level of dignity.

And besides, he was right. Their marriage simply _had_ to be legal.

"Let's just get this over with."

Ric smiled in that haughty way that he does whenever he knows he's won. Alexis rolled her eyes at him; he would be so much more tolerable if he weren't so damn smug all the time. Ric moved in slowly for another kiss, but Alexis automatically turned her head aside. He laughed as his face hit the pillow.

"Alexis, you have to meet me halfway here."

Ric pulled his head up, shaking it disbelievingly at Alexis as he clicked the lamp back off. He then held her head in place with both of his hands so that she couldn't change her mind. She let out a small sigh as he lifted her head to meet his lips. She felt her lungs turn to frigid ice while the rest of her body scorched with burning desire. Everything about the way he touched her drove her mad with passion.

She accidentally bit down on his bottom lip in her struggle to contain her ardor, but he seemed to enjoy it because he noticeably quickened his pace. Instead of long, desirous kisses, he buried her in short, hungry, lustful ones. He kissed the skin on her right shoulder, pushing the spaghetti strap down her arm. While he did this, his hand continued to creep tantalizingly slowly up her stomach.

Alexis shuddered with pleasure. But soon her breathless sighs turned rapidly to dangerous gasps of air. A weak whimper passed through her lips amidst her frantic panting. Ric snickered as he moved from her shoulder to her neck. "Oh, yeah, you like that?" he moaned into her skin.

"Bag!"

Ric stopped immediately and lifted his head. "I beg your pardon?"

"I need my paper bag!" she cried as she flicked on the lamp by the bed and scrambled out from under him. After a brief moment of blindness, Ric's eyes adjusted to the sudden change in light, and he could see Alexis on the floor, rummaging through her suitcase. She finally found a crumpled up paper bag, yanked it out impatiently, and began breathing hastily into it.

"Are you serious?" Ric said flatly, jaw completely dropped to his chest. He watched disbelievingly as the bag inflated and collapsed with each hysterical puff of breath. Alexis clutched a nearby chair with the hand that wasn't desperately pressing the bag to her face. He could see it now – every time he went to kiss her, every time he went to touch her, every time he even looked at her, she'd whip out that brown paper bag and start crinkling away.

"Didn't I tell you I have asthma?" she snapped, removing the bag from her face just long enough to shout at him, then returning it immediately to her aid.

"Twice already, I believe," Ric mumbled impassively.

Now that the lights were on and Alexis wasn't under his touches anymore, she could think with a much clearer head. She felt her breathing deepen, and her lungs gratefully filled with air. "I always knew you were a slow learner," she muttered derisively without really looking at him. She was worried that he wouldn't have the sense to pull the covers to his waist. "That must be why you kept going up against me in court."

Ric's mouth gaped open, releasing a scoff partly in amusement and partly in offense. "I think your panic attack is over," he grumbled.

"God, I haven't needed one of these in ages," Alexis marveled, more to herself than to her husband, whom she was trying to ignore.

"Really?" he asked quite intrigued, sitting up straighter on the bed. "Well, I'm honored."

So much for ignoring him.

"You're _honored_?" she cried, turning to face him. He was sitting rather pompously in the center of the bed with – thankfully – the sheets pulled tastefully to his waist. "You should be ashamed!"

"Why?" he asked incredulously. "My sexual advances get my wife so hot that she can barely breathe."

"I don't think the fact that physical contact with you is enough to make me pass out is something you should be proud of."

"_Nearly_ pass out," he corrected. "But at least you're admitting that we are getting physical."

"_Were_ getting physical," she corrected. "And it won't happen again."

"I thought you said you wanted to get this over with," Ric accused, tilting his head to the side and doubting her with his slanted eyebrows.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly! Not with the condition my health is in," Alexis said scornfully, raising her paper bag and shaking it as a reminder.

"I've never known you to cry wolf," Ric said bitterly, leaning back against the headboard of the bed.

"You don't know me at all," Alexis pointed out with narrowed eyes.

"Honey, that's what this whole evening is about."

Ric threw back the covers and stood from the bed, approaching her confidently. He snatched the bag from her just as she threatened with her body language to return it to her lips. He tore it once down the middle and tossed the shreds onto the desk.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded for the second time that night. She locked her eyes onto his, ordering them not to slip any lower. But it was impossible. She had no power over her own body's actions anymore.

Alexis chewed nervously on her bottom lip as Ric put his left hand on her waist -- too low on her waist, in fact -- while his right hand placed a finger to her lips to stop her nervous biting. It worked because she immediately froze. She found that she couldn't focus on anything except his lips. Damn them. Damn him! She was doomed.

Ric touched his nose lightly to hers, and his right hand joined his left at her waist. Alexis's wrists bent upward, and she touched her fingertips to his bare stomach. She was determined to push him away, but at the same time she wanted nothing more than to push him onto the bed and climb on top of him.

Ric seemed to know everything that was going on in her head because he kissed her mouth lightly but tauntingly and spoke in his sexiest voice.

"Looks like we didn't have to pay for two beds, after all."


End file.
